


When the snow falls

by itotoro



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Songfic, hurt comfort without the comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25377688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itotoro/pseuds/itotoro
Summary: Chaeyoung is alone on a winter dayout of season christmas fic
Relationships: Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung
Kudos: 22





	When the snow falls

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the song "First Snow" by EXO-k
> 
> gift for Nomnom! Hope you like this :D

December 24, 2019

There was a comfort in Insadong that Chaeyoung could not find anywhere else. Around this time of the year, the main road filled with tourists from all over the world, bringing Insadong to life with the hustle and bustle of foreign chatter. Snow fell a couple of days ago in powdery white, but there was no trace of that in Insadong; instead the snow packed to the ground in slippery sheets, pressed down by constant footsteps.

Chaeyoung walked along the main road. The afternoon before Christmas was not a good time to be alone, so Chaeyoung busied herself in the public. The cold weather seeped through her thick coat, her freezing hands deep in her pockets. The heat pouch she bought from the convenience store did little to warm them.

Over the left, a souvenir shop owner was convincing a family of five to each buy a pack of fridge magnets. The sound melded with the rest of the chatter on the road, a mix of English conversation and Hangul hawking of wares. Chaeyoung stopped momentarily in front of an American busker, tossed a few thousand Won inside his guitar case, then continued walking.

The Ssamziegil shopping complex stood at four floors tall, built like a flight of stairs spiraling to the top. Inside it people walked around, holding hands and looking through the different crafts and clothing stores set up. 

_There was once a time when someone held Chaeyoung's hand as she entered the Ssamziegil. But today she walked alone beneath the entrance sign, passing by a couple of kiosks that sold caricatures at exorbitant prices._

Chaeyoung pulled her coat around her, tucking her red scarf beneath it. The bricked courtyard in the middle of the complex was empty of snow, the only hint of the weather coming from the chilly breeze that sifted through the metal frame of the walls. A little further in was the smell of fresh carp bread, sweet like waffles. Her stomach rumbled.

Chaeyoung scanned the stores. The wares have changed from when she visited last summer. She walked to the clothing boutique by the corner of the complex.

"Good afternoon," greeted the saleslady by the counter, a young woman, "shopping for gifts?"

"Just browsing," said Chaeyoung. The walls lined with displays of colorful clothing, blouses and skits hanging on her left and right. On a table stood two mannequins, below them rows of folded shirts.

_There was a scarf on the mannequin, bright red, a spitting image of Chaeyoung's own. But her scarf had faded with a year of misuse._

Chaeyoung took a hair clip from the counter, handing it to the saleslady for purchase. She left the store with a bow, heading to the steel staircase.

The footpath of the second floor echoed beneath her steps, a sheet of metal that went around the building. Around it lined kiosks of handicrafts and footwear, customers browsing through each one. Serving as a frame around it was a metal ledge as high as Chaeyoung's ribs, bars a hand's width apart. She leaned on it, looking at the other side of the complex.

_Her cellphone's wallpaper used to be the picture of a woman leaning over the ledge, peering below, her dark hair a curtain on the other side of her face. Flowers used to hang from the ledge, blooming only in the summertime._

_That woman's hair was blonde now, and summer had ended five months ago. Chaeyoung moved along, climbing two more floors up the hollow steel staircase._

Over the muted sky crept gray snow clouds, diffusing what was let of the winter sunlight onto the open deck. Chaeyoung walked on the now wooden flooring, thick planks damp with remnants of snow. By a row of benches was a sculpture set of two giraffes made from recycled wire frame, the view of the city behind them. 

_Along the pathwalk was a restaurant that featured dishes served in miniature toilet bowls, some molded in the shape of cartoonish poop. Once upon a time, the Poo Curry dish made a couple laugh, smiles wide and eyes bright. Now Chaeyoung followed the pathwalk to an enclosure on the end._

The sign of the Wall of Love stood high over the entrance of the small alley, a mix of pink, yellow, and orange discs hanging off of plastic strings tired to flimsy wire fencing. A clerk manned the booth on the side, selling more of the empty discs. A felt-tip marker was taped to the booth desk. Chaeyoung tucked her chin into her scarf, lifting it around her neck to stave off the cold. She headed inside the alley.

There was a couple by the end, hands entwined as they fastened a red disk onto the top row of the wire fence. Entwined hands folded into an embrace, light nose kisses. "Let's come back next year."

"Excuse me," said Chaeyoung, bowing her head as she passed them by. She scanned the fence on her right, looking for familiar text on a pink disc two rows below eye level. Her hands ghosted over the discs as she passed them by, eyes skipping over proclamations of love and promises of lifetimes. She spots familiar text.

Our Anniversary. 12.24.17  
See you next year! Next year! Next year!  
Mina <3 Chaeyoung

Chaeyoung's handwriting distorted the more she stared at it, alien words and dulling aches. Hands found their way to the plastic string, tugging on the loop that tied it to the wire fence.

Snow fell on her hands in powdery white.

_Mina was radiant in the wintertime, cheeks flushed as feathery snow fell on her dark hair. Chaeyoung brushed some of it away._

_Mina's eyes met hers. "I love you, Chaeyoung."_

Head buried in her hands, Chaeyoung cried. The tears fell hot, then cold on her face, her chest shaking with sobs. She crouched on the ground, rocking herself back and forth. Her throat had closed up, her eyes shut tight. It felt the same. She felt the same. It still hurt.

Chaeyoung rubbed her nose, wiping her face with cold fists. She stood, brushed the snow off her hair, and walked away. 


End file.
